Cardinal testifies in criminal trial, a first

The first cardinal to face a criminal trial in a Vatican courtroom, once one of the Roman Catholic Church's most powerful officials, told the court in the papal city-state Thursday that he was ready to clear his name against charges of embezzlement and abuse of office.

The cardinal, Giovanni Angelo Becciu, is facing charges alongside nine others accused of defrauding the Vatican. In particular, the case primarily focuses on a London real estate investment that prosecutors say lost the Vatican millions while enriching middlemen.

It was a scene that only became possible after Pope Francis changed the law of the Vatican city-state to sweep away special privileges that cardinals and bishops had previously enjoyed regarding criminal offenses.

All those charged have denied wrongdoing, and Becciu, 73, again declared his innocence in emotional terms Thursday.

He had been subjected to “a media massacre,” he said.

“I was portrayed as a corrupt man, greedy for money, disloyal to the pope,” he told the court.

“I am here with my head held high, with a clean conscience.”

At the time the deal was struck, Becciu was “sostituto,” or chief of staff, in the Holy See's Secretariat of State, where he played a significant role in running the Curia, the bureaucracy that governs the Vatican. Francis dismissed him from his final Vatican post in September 2020, while the deal was under investigation.

The trial began July 27, 2021, but had been stalled by preliminary arguments as defense lawyers raised a number of objections and motions to dismiss the case, arguing, among other things, that the prosecution had withheld evidence, which hampered their ability to defend their clients effectively.